West leads the Diamond Jack, won with dummy’s Queen. Whoa,
stop! Right away, the opponents’ should know playing more
Diamonds is not productive unless they anticipate a ruff (one
long, one short). In a suit contract, opening leader (West) will
not underlead an Ace. And since East could not overtake the
dummy’s Queen by playing “third hand high”, the defenders should
know declarer holds both the Diamond Ace and King. As declarer,
we can see the dummy does not offer ruffing potential and there
are no finesse opportunities. We seem to have six losers: one
Spade trump, four Hearts and the Club Ace. Ah, but if we could
first drive out the Club Ace, perhaps we could sluff several
Heart losers on the dummy’s Clubs – it is unlikely opponents
would soon ruff our five card Club suit when they hold eight in
the suit. Opponents will typically have a 5-3 split, but since
we need a 4-4 to make game, we must hope for the best. So
declarer leads the stiff Club 2, won by East’s Ace. Here’s the
cards from South’s perspective:
East held a doubleton Diamond, perhaps thinking a ruff was a
good idea, but is it? Not really – East is due to win one Spade
regardless of play (promotion or ruff). What happens if East
returns a Diamond or a trump Spade? Declarer will win the trick,
enter dummy with the Spade King and sluff three Heart losers on
the Clubs. Declarer makes game, losing one Club, one Heart, and
one Spade. But if East took a deep breath and returned a Heart
Jack (top of broken sequence), the defenders win one Club, three
Hearts, and one trump Spade to set the contract. Whether
declarer or defender, be mindful of promotion plays that present
an opportunity to sluff losers – the race is on!
One the next hand, the declarer will make a loser disappear
as if by magic!
West leads Hearts and the defenders quickly win two Heart
tricks and play a third Heart. Do you ruff? If you do, you will
probably lose control of trump and get set! The opponents’ trump
distribution is often 4-2, so if you ruff, one opponent will
hold more trump than you – not a pretty picture. So before
quickly ruffing the third Heart, consider your options. You are
always going to lose a Club anyway – how about pitching a Club
from your hand on trick 3? Great – if they play a fourth Heart
you can ruff in the short side, the dummy! Now you can win four
Spade trumps, four Diamonds, and two Clubs to make your game. How did we do this? Technically it’s called playing a “loser on
loser”, but basically it’s a form of sluffing! Very good.